The video, which quickly went viral on TikTok this week, showing airport workers sticking tape to the wings of an airplane, has some air travelers a bit worried.
The voice over in @myhoneysmacks’ video says, “This is why I don’t fly Spirit. I don’t care if it’s aviation airplane tape,” he says. “You have to tape the plane and then do it like we can’t see you when people are in flight: that’s why I won’t fly with Spirit.”
Is it normal to tape planes?
While it probably sounds a little alarming if you’re a nervous passenger about to take off, boarding a plane that’s taped like a gift doesn’t actually have to be a source of fear.
“You’ll never find a garden-style duct tape on an airplane,” John Nance, pilot and safety consultant, told The Sydney Morning Herald in 2022, when a taped photo of an airplane wing went viral. It was designed very, very specifically for them to do whatever it takes.”
Speed tape is an extremely durable, aluminum-based adhesive tape used to temporarily patch non-critical components of aircraft. The tape is mainly used to prevent further abrasion in weather exposed areas.
“We reached out to our Engineering team and they confirmed that this is speedband and is safe and widely used in the aviation industry,” Spirit Airlines spokesperson Michael Lopardi said in a meeting with AP. “The use of the speedband has been authorized by the aircraft manufacturer and our Engineering team, and the Federal Aviation Administration It meets all the usage requirements specified by
So, while this image isn’t very reassuring and is only a temporary fix, it doesn’t mean the plane is unsafe.
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